The Trump administration has taken yet another step in its radical support of Israel. Having recognized Jerusalem as the Israeli capital, recognized Israeli sovereignty in the Golan Heights, cut off aid to the Palestinians, and abandoned the Iran agreement, it has now declared that Israeli settlements on occupied Palestinian land are not necessarily illegal. This represents a dramatic break with decades of international law, US policy and the position of most its allies.
Why, we might wonder, has this administration gone overboard in its support of Israel. The answer is not hard to find. Among Trump’s most fervent supporters are (Read more…) evangelical Christians. Over 80 percent voted for him. Furthermore, his vice-president, Mike Pence, and his secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, are both born-again Christians, converted from Catholicism, and converts are the most zealous of believers. And Evangelical Christians are the most ardent supporters of Israel, even more so than American Jews.
Indeed the powerful American Israel Public Affairs Committee avoided praising the decision, simply declaring it does not take a position on settlements. Rabbi Rick Jacobs, head of the Union for Reform Judaism, urged Trump to reverse course, saying it would cause “long-term threat to Israel’s status as a Jewish and democratic state” while Jeremy Ben-Ami, president of liberal Jewish advocacy group J Street, accused the Trump administration of “trampling on the rights of Palestinians.”
Not all Christians were happy about the decision either. A representative from the National Council of Churches said that it “stands by its long-stated position that the Israeli settlements in the West Bank are clear violations of international law.” The Presbyterian Church called the rejection of established policy “yet another occasion where the Trump administration is disregarding international law.”
Trump’s declaration doesn’t affect international law, of course, but it will encourage an expansionist Israel, and make a just settlement for the Palestinians and peace in the area that much more difficult. But to evangelicals the return of the Jews to the Holy Land is a prerequisite to achieving the millennium, the golden age, and ultimate salvation. And they are the ones at Trump’s elbow; thus their church dictates the policies of the Trump state.